Solacom verifies multi-vendor next generation interoperability at NENA's fifth Industry Collaboration Event
Chicago, IL, October 19, 2012— Solacom Technologies today announced its participation in ‘i3’ next generation interoperability testing at the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) 5th Industry Collaboration Event (ICE) held at the Illinois Institute of Technology the week of Oct. 15-19, 2012.
The theme of ICE 5 centered on emergency services for individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing or have a speech disability. Standards are evolving on this subject and it encompasses several different technologies and a variety of different protocols and techniques. Many aspects, such as handling text messages within the i3 context or ways of efficiently sending video using NG9-1-1 call routing techniques, must be tested amongst developers.
“Interoperability amongst vendor equipment is vital to the implementation of NG9-1-1 and as an active participant in all of the ICE events, Solacom supports and commends NENA for leading this important initiative” said Gilles Ferland, Solacom vice president Product Marketing. “This year’s event will help ensure that vendors develop products that are relevant and useful for everyone, including those with special needs,” added Ferland.
NENA Mission Statement for ICE 5
As stated by NENA “The NENA ICE-5 event will focus on vendors who have developed (or are currently developing) products designed for people with disabilities as they contact emergency services in a Next Generation 9-1-1 environment. Providing the ability for these vendors to test their products in an open, supportive, and collaborative environment, fosters a spirit of technical cooperation and improves vendors’ abilities to bring high-quality products to market.”
Focus of ICE 5
ICE 5 primarily focused on solutions that directly support access to NG9-1-1 for people with disabilities (e.g., deaf, hard-of- hearing, speech-impaired, etc.), with testing in such areas as:
- Novel approaches to location determination for non-voice emergency calling
- Demonstrations of multi-party video teleconferencing (caller, interpreter, PSAP)
- Applications of video compression algorithms that maintain adequate clarity to understand a person communicating with sign language
- Demonstrations of non-TTY devices accessing NG9-1-1 and transmitting data (e.g., real-time text application, TTY emulation, captioned telephone, etc.)
- Testing of legacy TTY devices connected to an ESInet
- Methods of protecting new access methods against fraudulent use / misuse, or from intentional overload
- Recording and retrieval of non-voice data by the recording vendors
About Solacom
Solacom Technologies builds some of the world’s most reliable critical communications systems that integrate Voice, Video and Data to deliver advanced IP-based interoperability solutions for public safety 9-1-1, military command, security and other mission critical applications. With a legacy of innovation in air traffic control and public safety, our engineers have pioneered many industry advances over the past 25 years.
Media Contact:
Robert Cassidy
Solacom – Manager Marketing & Communications
Phone 613-693-0641 x370